https://www.screwthemall.fi/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/ambu-ambu-crew-and-captain-mentawai-screw-them-all-blog.jpg13332000Screw Them Allhttps://www.screwthemall.fi/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/alien-logo-screw-them-all-menu.pngScrew Them All2018-07-01 14:41:182018-12-04 16:50:45How I got from Bali to Mentawai islands

https://www.screwthemall.fi/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/berawa-beach-bali-indonesia-surfing-screw-them-all-blog.jpg11192000Screw Them Allhttps://www.screwthemall.fi/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/alien-logo-screw-them-all-menu.pngScrew Them All2018-06-20 22:21:362018-08-04 10:36:56Can a beginner learn to surf with a shortboard?

Day 3 or episode 3 of my daily videos is a clip about getting my first wave surfing. It happened the 9th time ever out with my board, and as some might have read it’s a 5’10 long board which is small and for a beginner very small. But I believed in myself and learned to surf with a small board, so it is possibly to start with a shortboard.
Everything on the video is shot on Bali and Wavepark Mentawai.

Almost a month into my trip and everyone have been asking where my secret island is. Well in 1 week I will be taking off from Bali towards the secret island and at the same time I will go off the grid the 16th of February, and when I say off the grid I mean OFF THE GRID, no internet, no social media, no mobliephone network, only link to the outer world from the island will be a satellite phone and I will spend a week and a half off the grid at: 1.8471° S, 99.3104° E

Before I headed for my pilgrimage, I had some things I wanted to achieve here on it. One of those things was to make my dream come true of surfing, which I have had ever since I was a little boy. I didn’t just want to be able to surf a big beginner board, I wanted to be able to surf my shortboard, a rather small board for a beginner, 5’10 in length, well I did it, the 9th time ever out surfing I caught an unbroken wave with my board, and for me, it wasn’t just making a dream come true, it was about riding The Big Fish, not only paddling out in the waves with it, but letting it guide me to connect with the waves and for me it felt like going home, it’s hard to describe it, but when you loose something you love more then anything it’s hard to really let go and for me everytime I take The Big Fish out on the waves, it’s just me, The Big Fish and the ocean, and everytime I go out there, it is hard for me even if I love doing it, because at the same time everytime I’m out there I let go of my past and just let The Big Fish take me home and live and to love life again, and even if there will always be pain in my heart, everytime I catch a wave I feel like just screaming out to the world, I am alive and I did it, I learned to love life again. I didn’t make it all by myself, I did it because I had people who where there for me when I was down and they stood by my side even if they knew that I might not be able to give back to them.
So going out on the waves is not only just letting go of an angel, it also reminds me everytime, of all the people who have helped me survive hell.

This is how we take care of our oceans and nature and it makes me sick! Even without seeing it, I know our oceans are filled of plastic which is killing our nature and it makes me sad and so angry. But when I see this beach with my own eyes it just makes me sick to my stomach.

One inspiration to me in saving the planet is Anna, who is my close friend and she is one of very few people I know who takes real responsibility in saving our planet. How I contribute in saving the planet myself is I do NOT throw trash on the ground.

As it might be overwhelming as there are so many different things you can do to make a difference in saving our planet and that is why it is easy to start simple, DON’T MESS WITH MOTHER EARTH, so next time you are about to throw trash on the ground, DON’T, just take it to a trashbin that has a recycle sign so that your trash will be recycled and there will come a day when our oceans will be clean again and our planet will breathe again.

The Big Fish was planned to be on the first snowboard coming from the Alien Snowboards factory. But because of me struggling in life with the loss on an innocent angel, I was not able to get the Alien Snowboards factory going.

Years went by with me fighting through hell and after beating hell I planned to go on a pilgrimage to Bali. I wanted to make a dream come true that I had since I was a little boy, surfing, and at the same time just stop for the first time in 5 and a half years.

All started to go bad when we lost our little angel and nothing mattered to me anymore and my path through hell began. While fighting I got to points where with different kind of encounters meet me in my struggles. One thing that kept me going was that I kept the dream of Alien Snowboards alive, even if I knew in my heart that my own factory might never start production. But to me the dream was a thing that kept my hope of surviving hell. By accident through a friend I got to know a woman that is an amazing artist and designer. I asked her to draw a graphic for the first board that would come out of the Alien Snowboards factory. I told her my story and gave her total freedom to draw my story the way she thought would be good.

When I first saw the graphic I was speachless and tears ran down my checks as it was so beautiful, it told my story in a beatiful way and at the same time the drawing gave me hope and stregth to fight forward.

The snowboards with the graphic have never been made, but the graphic kept me going and gave me hope and now when I finally got through hell, I asked her if I could put the graphic on my custom surfboard for my pilgrimage to Bali.

She replied that it would be just fine to do so.

Then I contacted Pinguino Surfboards and told them the short version of my story and they agreed to shape me the board.

Today when I woke up it was raining, it felt like the sky was crying and helping me let go. Even if I’m still a beginner in surfing and still learning and I’m not able to catch waves with my own board yet, I wanted to take it out, just to paddle around with it and let it connect with the waves and the ocean. I was out there for a moment that felt like eternity, I finally seized the moment. After getting back in I just sat on the beach for a while with the board by my side and felt the tears coming.

Our little angelchild is turning 5 years old today on 21. of January and is always with me and leading the way for me.

This is how Satu explained the symbolic story behind the graphic:
The koi fish that has white lillies and arum flowers (both flowers symbolize death) wrapped around it’s tail symbolising the chains of the past. The fish has gotten away from the chains with the help of the birds cutting them. The little feather of an angel carried by the little bird coming out the flower is guiding the fish towards hope and showing that it is possible to brake free from the chains of the past and at the same time guiding the fish towards hope. The fish symbolizes a flow or curent, traveling, fearlessnes and the fish is also able to swim against a strong current, and when you just let go and ride The BIg Fish you will go far.

Thank and all the love to you Satu, for drawing it and giving me hope.

And a thank you with love to Pinguino Surfboards for making hope that Satu drew a reality.

Meet The Big Fish

https://www.screwthemall.fi/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/the-big-fish.jpg23522000Screw Them Allhttps://www.screwthemall.fi/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/alien-logo-screw-them-all-menu.pngScrew Them All2018-01-21 14:00:142018-06-29 20:41:19The Big Fish and the moment of eternity

I woke up and it was raining so I decided to take the laptop and go to my everyday breakfast at Bali Bowls. While driving there which is just a couple of blocks from where I stay, I all the sudden realize I drove passed it, I was about to brake and make a u-turn but I got a gut-feeling that told me to continue straight to the beach even if it was raining. So I listened to my gut-feeling and continued to the beach which is just a couple of more blocks down the road.

I get there, just rain and bad waves. But I stayed and just looked at the ocean. Then a woman walks by with her dog following. The woman walks by but the little dog stopped and just looked at me. Didn’t come close and didn’t walk by, just stood still and looked at me. The woman turnes around and I told her that her dog didn’t want to move, she walks back and we start talking. She has moved here from Austria and has been living here for the last 3 years.

And this is when it get’s interesting.

I told her that I’m here feeling the waves and the ocean and their movement to learn, even if I’m not out on the water. And I told her how I think it’s important to feel your surfboard and feel the waves and the ocean to become a better surfer. As I believe there is a mental side to it, and to become a good surfer you need to have a mental connection to your board and the ocean on top of being a good athlete and fit.

She said, she totally understands it. Then she tells me that she teaches yoga and we started talking about how important it is for any sport or activity to be present and feel the soul of it.

Now I’m here eating breakfast at Bali Bowls and thinking, was it meant to happen? Was I supposed to drive to far and was it that my gut-feeling was supposed to tell me to go on and meet the woman and talk about the soul of the ocean and the souls of sports.

And what makes this even more interesting and emotional is that yesterday I was in the pool with my own board, just balancing and trying to feel the board and even if I might not be able to get up on it yet as it is small and I’m practicing on a big board, I have planned to take it out on the waves tomorrow for the first time, even just to paddle around on it.

As y’all remember tomorrow is the day when I will reveal the board graphic 21.1 and now I have all these encounters happening to me as 21.1 is closing in. For example, yesterday in the evening I was swiming around in the waves and the mount for my GoPro Hero6 broke and it dissapeared into the ocean. Was this meant to happen? As I had planned to mount it to the surfboard when I take it out for the first time, but when this happened it felt like the ocean and life was telling me, go out there without any cameras and just be present and feel the soul of the moment when you are taking the board out. Which is true, if I would take a camera with me I would not fully concentrate and be present in the moment as I would fiddle around with the camera. But now when I will go out without any cameras, just me, my board and the ocean, I will feel the moment, I will feel the soul of the ocean.

https://www.screwthemall.fi/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/surfing-yoga-bali-soul-blog-travel-screw-them-all.jpg18312000Screw Them Allhttps://www.screwthemall.fi/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/alien-logo-screw-them-all-menu.pngScrew Them All2018-01-20 03:52:222018-07-07 00:50:29The souls of the ocean in Bali are leading my way into my pilgrimage

My checklist for my surfing trip and pilgrimage to Bali is starting to look very good!

1. I’m so happy that the place were my dog Ace is staying while I’m on my trip is like a second home for him, he can be a rascal and run around at the house while the family take care of him and gives him lots of love.

2. The location in Bali is an AirBnB place which I found, lovely couple who even have 2 dogs which will help me a lot when I’m away from my own dog. The place is called Luxry River Room #2 Canggu. I will do a more in depth introduction of the place when I get there.

The second place, the mystery island, I’ll still keep it a secret but what I can say it is in Indonesia and it’s west from Bali. The island is small, about 2 km in diameter and has lots of surf breaks close by. The island is a part of some bigger islands but this particlar island is like having your private island in paradise, no crowded tourist beaches, no hassle, just relaxation, waves, surfing, good food and sun. Just as the place in Bali, I’ll will make tour of the island when I get there. For now here are 2 more shots from the island.

3. Got the plane tickets ready and now I just have to wait for my departure day!

4. I have been getting back in shape and starting to feel good. A little bit tired as my body have gotten some tough workouts, so for this last week I will just play around and balance with my Indo Board and do one or two easier workouts at the gym and just REST!

5. I still need to get some kind of a selfie-stick for recording my videos and some floatation thingies for my GoPro so that I won’t have to dive it from the bottom of the ocean, as I have once done when the handle broke while doing a flip into the ocean from a pier a couple of years ago. And tomorrow I’m fixin’ to go get the bag for my surfboard.

6. My surfboard, The surfboard, which the Pinguino Surfboard dudes custom made for me is on it’s way to me. I can’t wait as the board will have a graphic on it which basically tells the story of the hell I went throught and survived, drawn by a good friend of my who is crazy talented. I will give you some sneak peeks of the board when I get it, but you will have to wait for the reveal, which I will do the 21st January from Bali.

Now just need to get some rest and some quality time with my buddy Ace who is helping me write this post as you can see :

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